Deadly gun fire erupts at Mexico City airport

Rumors and theories abound in Mexico following a shoot-out at terminal 2 at Mexico City’s international airport. In a food court at the airport, two Federal Police agents shot to death three of their fellow officers to the horror of 40 civilian witnesses on June 25 just before 9 AM. Following the incident, a communiqué from Mexican authorities said that a unit of the national police force was undertaking the arrest of two officers who had been under investigation for alleged involvement in illicit drug trafficking. According to the official statement, when the two men under investigation understood that they were facing arrest, they began firing at the other three federal agent and killed them.

Witnesses on the scene said that shooting broke out near a restaurant at the airport where they saw the police officers in a heated discussion. One of the officers, who was brought down to the floor and apparently under arrest, was then shot to death. It was then that a deadly cross-fire was unleashed. “All of them were police: three and three. They were talking, they were together. That was when some of them fired directly, tried to escape and defend themselves, but their companions fell and the others began to flee,” said one of the witnesses.

Other witnesses testify that they saw both victims and perpetrators eating breakfast together at an airport restaurant in the company of two civilians. After breakfast and then walking in a corridor near the second-floor eating area, an argument ensued between the two groups that was followed by an exchange of bullets. The killers escaped down an emergency staircase. One of them was evidently wounded in the confrontation, since a spoor of blood was found at a nearby taxi waiting area.

Mexican authorities say that they have identified the offending federal officers and are mounting a search for them. At least 15 shots were fired in the incident. Mexico's Ministry of Communications and Transportation said that operations at the airport are back to normal. Terminal 2 was built five years ago. The Panamanian airline COPA and LAN Chile airlines, operate from the terminal, as do domestic flights of AeroMexico.

Spero News editor Martin Barillas is a former US diplomat, who also worked as a democracy advocate and election observer in Latin America. He is also a freelance translator.